This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Stanley Cup: Triple overtime takes heavy toll on players

What effect does a triple-OT Stanley Cup final game, coupled with six weeks of gruelling playoffs after a strike-shortened season, have on a players’ body? We find out.

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford heads to the bench at the end of the second overtime period during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final against the Boston Bruins. By the time the game ended midway through the third extra frame, Crawford had played 112 minutes of hockey and made 51 saves.
(JOHN GRESS / REUTERS)

Rapid weight loss is a given, sports medicine experts say — anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds in a game, depending on intensity and length. Stress on the kidneys, liver, brain and other organs is guaranteed, especially in a six-period hockey game.

During the game, players gobble energy bars and products like Rehydrate Gel, a liquid package loaded with electrolytes, glutamine and other much-needed nutrients to replenish depleted energy levels.

“Guys would eat bananas or eat a full meal during the game, but every guy is different,” he said. “Some guys can’t eat any solid foods and need to rely on other things.”

But it’s only going to be enough — barely — to get players through the grind.

Playing the equivalent of two games in a row, particularly for the players with the most ice time, “is hard on the system from an energy point of view, a hydration point of view and a muscle point of view,” said former Leafs team physician and sports medicine specialist Dr. Michael Clarfield.

It’s a problem the Blue Jays are familiar with. On May 31, the team played 17 innings in a loss to the Padres in San Diego. Back home on June 8, they edged the Texas Rangers in 18 innings, the longest game in franchise history.

“It was weird. The first game, the 17 innings in San Diego, I had the next day off so I didn’t feel bad at all, my body had time to recover,” Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia said Thursday in Arlington, Texas. “But the 18 innings in Toronto, that was a day game after a night game and I can tell you I was pretty sore.”

The Stanley Cup opener between the Bruins and Blackhawks was only the 24th-longest overtime game in NHL history, but it was the fifth-longest in the last decade. That takes a huge toll on players, said Dr. Greg Wells, an expert on athletic performance in adverse situations at the University of Toronto.

“They’re going flat-out every shift in the playoffs,” he said. “At that level, you burn sugars and you deplete your energy levels and that’s hard to replenish for the next game.”

Outside the minor bumps, bruises and soreness, the loss of muscle glycogens in a triple-overtime game can be problematic for players if they don’t prepare properly post-game and in the time leading up to Game 2 on Saturday.

“The more you exercise, the more you’re using your stored energy,” Clarfield said. “It’s important to eat energy bars and gels during the game. In this case, though, it’s hard to keep up.”

Muscle glycogen is the energy inside muscles used to perform short bouts of exercise like a hockey shift, said Wells. By the time overtime rolled round, “they would have been running on empty,” he added.

The body is more receptive to nutrients in the first 30 minutes to an hour after exercise, and eating a meal high in protein and carbohydrates directly after a game is crucial to expediting the body’s recovery.

“You can recover three or four days later, but it takes a lot more time to recover if you don’t eat right away,” Clarfield said. “They’ve got a good three days to recover; if it was one or two it would be tricky.”

Massages and contrast baths also help players recover, said Nichol, but proper nutrition and supplementation is the most effective route.

“This would be a time where more carbs would be best and protein to rebuild the muscles,” he said. “They don’t need nor can they digest as much protein as we thought they could before.”

Too much protein can actually impede recovery, so a moderate level is better, Nichol added.

Nearly three days between games should be enough time for players’ bodies to re-energize; however, the nervous system might be a problem.

Acting as the middleman between the brain and the muscles, the nervous system, if tired, especially after an overtime game in the Stanley Cup final, could make players slow out of the gate, Wells said.

“I’m sure we will see sluggish play at the start and unusual errors at the beginning of the game,” he said. “It will be like missing a step.”

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com